The Killjoy God

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. The Kill Joy God. So, we're going to be going through this with a text that seems like it has nothing to do with joy. I know, but I think it's a great text and you'll bear with me for a little while as we get there, okay? We've got a long journey, hopefully no longer than normal, I know, but we're going to be reading Romans 3, verses 21-26. But now, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in His divine forbearance, He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. I want to believe in God, but there's just too many rules. I don't want to be confined to drudgery and boredom, and that's what it seems like church and Christianity is. I want to enjoy my life and there's just too many these and thous and dos and don'ts, come on, it's just too confining. Christianity feels like a straitjacket. By the way, my life's going pretty good and I just want to enjoy my life. To be honest, I look at those Christians and they don't seem to be enjoying life that much. I don't want to be like them. I want to believe in God, but come on, be real. I don't know if you know anybody that's like that. We're going to be unpacking this because I think there's a lot of things in this suitcase. A lot of different items that have to be looked at, what's going behind that attitude. One of the first things I think we have to look at is just our own culture here in the United States in Western civilization and how we've gotten to the point where it's not just God is a killjoy. I think Eugene Peterson said it well, he said this, The enormous entertainment industry in America is a sign of the depletion of joy in our culture. Society is a bored, gluttonous king employing a court jester to divert it after an overindulgent meal. So he's basically saying that the whole society is seeking joy, looking for it, looking for thrills, spills, chills, whatever, but we are so sad, we're missing it. Underneath this veneer of happiness and the pursuit of there, that happiness is a culture of purposelessness and meaninglessness. And we mask it over by just finding something else to thrill us for a moment, adding this and that to our lives. I've got wonderful neighbors who just seem to be moving from one thing to the next, just to keep on going. Kind of like the fish in Dory in Finding Nemo, just keep on swimming, swimming, swimming, don't think too much. And so they just keep on shopping, shopping, shopping, keep on eating out, eating out, eating out. You know, they keep doing things, but underneath there seems to be no center of joy or meaning or purpose. They're just not quite sure. OK, so we've covered it all up. Well, this is where we're headed, though, because I don't think God is a killjoy at all. In fact, he is the source of it. And that's what Psalm 16, verse 11 says. You make known to me the path of life. In your presence, there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. We've been cut off from the source of joy. We've pursued it in all sorts of things. We grasp for it. We try to get it. It slips through our fingers again and again, and we keep going back, doing the crazy thing over and over again to try to get it this time. Maybe it'll work this time. Maybe this time, this time, this time. And it never does when God has it here for us all along. So that's where we're going. In God's presence is a fullness of joy. You know, the Westminster Catechism, you may not have ever heard of it, but it asks the basic question of what is the end of man? That is, what is the purpose? What is the chief end of man? What is the goal of humanity? And the answer is simply this. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Did you get that? What are we here for? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. God made us to enjoy this beautiful world and His beautiful creation, to go, wow, and thanks, and amazing. And to have this living, loving relationship with Him. And that's what we're going to get to do someday. We're going to get there, but that's not where we are right now at this point in time. So from Romans chapter 3, we're going to learn four different things. And like I said, bear with me as we walk through these. Here are the four points today that we're going to learn. Number one, how we fall short of God's glory. Two, how we g...